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SARTAIN, Emily
- Born
- Goring Heath, Oxfordshire, England, 1903
- Died
- Victoria, B.C., 1990
- Biography synopsis
- Internationally recognised botanical artist Emily Sartain was elected Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society (London) in 1932, the same year one of her flower paintings exhibited at the Society of Women Artists in London was purchased by the Royal family. In 1939 she settled in Vancouver B.C. where she was visiting as World War II began. She became actively involved with horticultural societies in British Columbia and instrumental in preserving many unique wildflowers growing on Vancouver Island and elsewhere in Canada. Her watercolour paintings were included in numerous exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1939 and in subsequent years. In 1945 her paintings were accepted at the annual Art Association of Montreal. In Victoria she was involved with the Victoria Sketch Club and the Island Arts and Crafts Society, contributing to the Society’s annual exhibition in 1948. In 1951 Sartain returned to England to complete a pre-war commission, but came back to Canada to continue her studies of Canadian flora, assisting the Royal B.C. Museum in the preservation of the Thetis Park Nature Sanctuary on Vancouver Island. She also belonged to the Victoria Horticultural Society and the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society. Coutts Hallmark commissioned her to paint the official flower of each Canadian province as part of the 1968 National Centennial Celebration. She was a prolific painter producing nearly 5,000 watercolours of flowers, principally painted on commission. A large collection of her works are held at various museums throughout Canada including the Royal B.C. Museum.
- Media used
- Watercolour
- Memberships
- Island Arts and Crafts Society
- Victoria Sketch Club
- File & Archive locations
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- Vancouver Public Library, BC - Fine Arts and History Department
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
- London Public Library, ON
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Toronto Reference Library, ON
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- Canadian Wildflowers: Sixteen Plates in Full Colour - Fleurs sauvages du Canada: Seize Planches en Couleurs Toronto, Ontario: Audubon Society of Canada, 1942
- Studio: An Illustrated Magazine 141 (1951): 126
- "Emily Sartain exhibits Paintings of Flowers." The Gazette (Montreal) 8 Sept. 1945: 3
- "Flower Artist Self-Taught." Daily Province 19 July 1939
- "New Emily Sartain Art Exhibit Opens." Vancouver Sun 22 May 1940
- "Noted British Flower Artist living in Victoria paints Wild Flowers of British Columbia." Victoria Daily Times 19 Jul 1947: 19
- "painting of Canada's Wild Flowers shown in England." Times Colonist 20 Aug 1951: 13
- Bell, Jeff. "Donated Srt blooms at Mount St. Mary." Times Colonist (Victoria) 7 Feb. 2010: A9
- Blunt, W. and W. Steam. The Art of Botanical Illustration London, England: Rev. ed. ACC Art Books Ltd., 2021
- Blunt, Wilfrid. The Art of Botanical Illustration London: Collins, 1950.
http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.474780 - Descoteau, Don. "Horticultural Artist back in Spotlight." Oak Bay News 16 Feb. 2010: 1
- Douglas, Gilean. "Emily Sartain Flower Artist." The Vancouver Sun 18 Aug 1951: 54
- Forbes, Elizabeth. "Artist returns: Canadian Flowers win her Acclaim." Times Colonist 27 feb 1957: 39
- Funke, Betty Gordon. "Her Flowers Will Bloom Forever." Times Colonist (Victoria) 6 Dec. 1998: 8
- House, Maria Newberry. Plantae Occidentalis: 200 Years of Botanical Art in British Columbia Vancouver: Botanical Garden University of British Columbia, 1979
- Layland, Michael. In Nature’s Realm: Early Naturalists Explore Vancouver Island Toronto: TouchWood Editions, 2019
- Lover, John Gordon. The Victoria Sketch Club: A Centennial Celebration, 1909-2009 Victoria, B.C.: Victoria Sketch Club, 2008
- Luce, P.W.. "Her Flowers will bloom for 100 Years." The Province 26 May 1945: 43
- MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
- Palette. "In The Realm of Art: Summer Show at Gallery Major Event for Art Lovers." Vancouver Daily Province 7 July 1943
- Pekonen, Bill. "Watercolourist Sartain was Prodigious Painter; She created 4,000 Paintings; website emilysartain.ca chronicles her Work." The Vancouver Sun 29 Oct. 2013: A11
- Tuele, Nicholas, and Christina Johnson-Dean. British Columbia Women Artists, 1885-1985 Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985
- W. T. H.. "Floral Paintings Now At Gallery." News Herald 24 May 1940
